My planet is infested with Goblins

Chapter 90: The Last Hall of Eastwatch

The surviving Caldris defenders poured through the doors of the government hall while Viridian horns echoed across the courtyards behind them.

Soldiers shoved heavy tables, benches, cabinets, and whatever timber remained against the entrances as officers shouted for crossbowmen to take the balconies and upper windows.

The great hall had never been designed as a fortress, but the men inside no longer had anywhere else to go. The outer walls of Eastwatch were lost, the government compound had been breached from several directions, and the courtyards were filling with goblins.

Every room behind them represented only another few yards of ground. General Cedric Halvern stood near the main entrance and watched the final barricade take shape while Lord Governor Marcellan Rusk was escorted farther inside with the remaining officials.

Halvern refused every suggestion that he withdraw into the inner chambers. The government hall was still large enough to create several defensive layers, and he intended to use every one of them.

Professional infantry formed behind the main doors. Militia and wounded soldiers capable of standing were sent to side corridors. Crossbowmen occupied the balcony overlooking the receiving chamber, while another group moved toward upper windows that faced the courtyard.

Behind them, furniture was stacked across the approaches to the central staircase. Halvern walked from one position to another, correcting placements and telling exhausted soldiers where they would make their stand.

A captain approached him after inspecting the rear chambers. "There are service exits behind the eastern offices."

"Where do they lead?"

"Two narrow streets behind the compound. We do not know if goblins patrol those area."

Rusk heard the exchange from several paces away and immediately stepped forward. "Then we leave through them."

Halvern turned toward him. "With what escort?"

"With whoever is necessary."

"We do not know whether those streets are open."

"We know what happens if we remain here."

Halvern glanced toward the entrance, where another Viridian horn sounded from the courtyard. "We know what happens if we walk blindly into a street filled with goblins too."

Rusk’s expression tightened. "I am the governor of this province."

"And I am the man responsible for keeping the soldiers around organized."

For several seconds neither spoke. Halvern finally looked toward the guards beside Rusk.

"Take him inside. If those passages are confirmed clear, I will tell you. Until then, nobody leaves."

Rusk did not like the answer, but the first Viridian crossbow bolts striking the outer walls ended the argument.

The western commander had surrounded the hall before beginning the attack. Goblin crossbowmen occupied the surrounding administrative buildings and fired toward every visible window.

Caldris shooters answered from the upper floors, and the exchange became immediate and violent. One human crossbowman leaned through a window, released a bolt into the shield formation crossing the courtyard, and disappeared backward as two Viridian bolts struck the stone beside him.

Another was hit in the shoulder and fell against the sill, forcing the man beside him to drag him away.

Under that covering fire, shield-bearing goblins advanced toward the main doors.

The western commander did not expect an easy entrance. He could see heavy furniture behind the cracked doorway whenever the defenders briefly opened it to fire.

Axe troops gathered beneath the shields while another formation moved toward a smaller side entrance. The government hall was already surrounded, so there was no reason to attack only one point.

"Main doors keep pressure," he ordered. "Side entrance breaks first if it is weaker. Crossbows keep the upper windows down."

Viridian axes struck the main entrance.

Inside, the sound reverberated through the receiving hall.

The defenders had reinforced the doors with cabinets, benches, and heavy tables. Every blow shook the pile but did little more than splinter the exterior wood. Caldris spearmen waited several steps behind the barricade, ready for whatever opening appeared.

Halvern listened to the impacts and looked toward the balcony.

"Do not waste bolts on shields. Wait until the axe crews expose themselves."

The crossbowmen obeyed.

When the next Viridian group moved close enough to swing, bolts came from the upper windows. Two goblins fell. Another staggered backward with a shaft in his shoulder.

The axe crews withdrew behind their shields.

The first attack stalled.

Then shouting came from the side corridor.

Viridian soldiers had reached a smaller entrance on the southern side of the hall. The door there was reinforced, but nothing compared with the main entrance. Axe blows began cracking its frame almost immediately.

Halvern sent one of his remaining professional squads toward the corridor.

The captain beside him frowned. "That is our reserve."

"I know."

"If the main doors fail—"

"Then we will have fewer men there too."

The captain said nothing.

The side door broke first.

A piece of timber split inward and a goblin shield appeared through the opening. Caldris soldiers drove a spear into the gap, killing the first attacker before he could enter. Another stepped over him. Then another.

The narrow corridor became a brutal struggle.

Human soldiers used their greater reach to keep the goblins trapped near the entrance. For several minutes they actually drove the first Viridian group back outside. The Caldris captain shouted for the doorway to be blocked again.

Fresh goblins arrived before they could manage it.

The fighting resumed.

The western commander saw resistance increase at the side entrance and understood that defenders were being transferred away from the main hall.

"Main attack forward."

Fresh axe troops rushed the great doors.

More blows landed.

One hinge began separating from the frame.

Inside, the barricade shifted.

Halvern immediately ordered another table pushed into place.

The first crack opened wide enough for a Viridian spear to thrust through. A Caldris soldier hacked at the shaft with his sword until it snapped. Another goblin pushed a shield into the opening.

The defenders struck it repeatedly.

The pressure from outside increased.

The door buckled inward.

Halvern saw what was coming and made his decision before the entrance fully failed.

"Professional infantry with me."

The captain stared at him. "General?"

"We hit them before they fill the doorway."

The barricade was pulled aside just enough for the defenders to move.

The main doors broke inward moments later.

Viridian shield-bearers rushed toward the opening.

Instead of finding Caldris soldiers waiting behind another obstruction, they were met by a charge.

Halvern led the professional infantry through the entrance.

Human shields smashed into the first goblin rank with enough force to send several attackers backward into the courtyard. Spears drove through gaps. Swords struck down over shields. The unexpected counterattack pushed the Viridian front several yards from the doors.

Halvern remained near the front, shouting orders as his men formed around him.

"Keep it together! Do not chase, keep your lines solid.!"

For the first time since the compound had been breached, Caldris regained ground.

Several Viridian soldiers died beneath the sudden attack. Others retreated toward the next formation. The humans pressed far enough to clear the entrance completely.

The western commander watched without panic.

"Fresh companies forward. Crossbows on their flanks."

Viridian reinforcements moved around the withdrawing first ranks. Crossbowmen fired from the edges of the courtyard. Bolts began striking the exposed sides of the Caldris formation.

Halvern saw the danger immediately.

"Back inside! Controlled withdrawal!"

The humans retreated toward the entrance, but Viridian pressure followed them. Some soldiers reached the doors. Others were cut off before they could cross the threshold.

Halvern was among the last to return.

A bolt struck the edge of his shoulder armor but failed to penetrate deeply. He stumbled, recovered, and disappeared inside as the remaining infantry pulled furniture back toward the entrance.

They no longer had enough time to rebuild the barricade.

Viridian soldiers came through.

The first goblins entering the receiving chamber were killed by spears and crossbow bolts from the balcony. More followed. Shield-bearers spread into the room, giving the soldiers behind them space to enter.

At the same time, the side corridor finally failed.

Viridian troops forced Caldris defenders backward from the secondary entrance and began moving through adjoining rooms.

Halvern received both reports within moments.

He looked toward the broad staircase at the far end of the receiving chamber.

"Fall back to the stairs. Crossbowmen remain above. Everyone else withdraws by sections."

The surviving defenders obeyed.

The government hall became a battlefield of overturned furniture, broken doors, blood, and discarded weapons. Caldris troops abandoned the entrance chamber and formed another line around the staircase while Viridian soldiers secured the ground behind them.

Farther inside, Rusk could hear the fighting clearly now.

An official entered the chamber where he waited with his personal guards. "My lord, the main entrance has fallen."

Rusk looked toward the man. "And General Halvern?"

"Still fighting."

"Can he hold?"

The official did not answer.

Rusk turned toward his guards. "Your responsibility is me. If the military defense collapses, you do not throw your lives away."

One of the guards looked uncomfortable. "General Halvern has ordered everyone capable of fighting to support the defense."

"I am not General Halvern."

The sound of Viridian horns echoed through the building.

Rusk looked toward the inner chamber doors. "If there is no way out, then we surrender before they decide there is nobody worth taking alive."

At the staircase, Halvern had established the strongest position remaining. Spearmen stood several steps above the receiving floor while crossbowmen fired from the balcony overhead. The elevation allowed the humans to use their greater reach with devastating effect.

The first Viridian attack failed badly.

Goblin soldiers climbing the stairs were struck from above and forced backward. Several fell onto those behind them, breaking the formation. Crossbow bolts from the balcony killed others before they could reach the first landing.

The western commander entered the receiving chamber after the failed push and studied the staircase.

"Do not crowd the steps. Side corridors?"

An officer pointed toward the rooms captured from the secondary entrance.

"We are moving through them now."

"Then keep them moving. The stairs only need to keep the humans looking forward."

The next attack was deliberately smaller.

Viridian shield-bearers advanced several steps, forcing Caldris spearmen to remain engaged. Crossbow fire continued between the balcony and receiving chamber.

Meanwhile, goblins from the side entrance moved deeper through administrative offices.

The defenders heard them too late.

A Viridian formation appeared in a corridor opening near the upper level.

Halvern was forced to pull soldiers away from the staircase.

That weakened the front.

The western commander immediately ordered another push.

Goblin infantry climbed.

The Caldris line held the lower steps, then lost them.

The defenders moved upward.

One landing changed hands.

Then another.

Halvern fought beside the remaining professional troops. His earlier shoulder wound had begun bleeding through his armor, but he refused every attempt to move him away.

A captain grabbed his arm. "General, go upstairs. We can hold here."

"To where?"

"The governor—"

"The governor does not need me standing beside him."

Another Viridian attack reached the landing.

Halvern pushed the captain aside and joined the fight.

A goblin spear struck toward his stomach. He deflected it and drove his sword into the attacker’s neck. Another shield-bearer came immediately behind the first.

The human line shrank.

A crossbow bolt struck Halvern beneath the ribs.

He staggered against the railing.

The captain caught him.

"General!"

Halvern looked down at the bolt, then toward the goblins climbing the steps.

"Hold the landing."

"You cannot keep fighting."

Halvern pulled himself upright. "Neither can half the men here."

A messenger came from the inner rooms before the next attack began.

"The governor intends to surrender."

The captain looked toward Halvern.

Halvern closed his eyes briefly, then nodded.

"If he believes that saves the people inside, he can surrender."

"And you?"

Halvern tightened his grip on his sword.

"I am staying with the soldiers."

The messenger hesitated, then withdrew.

Viridian came again.

Halvern gathered the few professional soldiers still capable of fighting and did not wait for them to be surrounded. When the goblins reached the upper landing, the remaining Caldris infantry charged down into them.

The fight lasted only minutes.

Halvern killed one goblin and wounded another before his injured body slowed down. A shield struck him against the railing. He recovered enough to swing once more, but a spear entered beneath his arm.

He fell among the soldiers who had followed him.

The remaining Caldris fighters around him died or surrendered shortly afterward.

With Halvern gone, organized resistance inside the government hall collapsed.

Viridian soldiers moved through the upper corridors, disarming wounded defenders and clearing rooms one after another. The western commander climbed the staircase and stopped briefly near the body of the human general before continuing toward the inner chambers.

Rusk did not make them break the final doors.

He emerged with several officials and his remaining personal guards.

The guards placed their weapons on the floor.

Rusk raised empty hands.

"I am Lord Governor Marcellan Rusk of Eastwatch. I surrender this compound and order the surviving men under my authority to lay down their weapons. In return, I ask that the wounded, officials, and civilians here be spared."

The western commander studied him for several seconds.

He then looked at the goblin translator, which spoke a little and understood a little bit of the language.

"You remain alive until the Grand Marshal decides what happens to you."

Rusk nodded.

It was not a guarantee, but it was enough.

Viridian soldiers escorted him away under guard.

Above the hall, goblins climbed onto the roof and reached the provincial banner that had flown over Eastwatch throughout the siege. The Caldris colors were pulled down.

A Viridian standard rose in their place.

Across the central district, goblin soldiers saw it and began cheering.

Rusk heard the sound from below as he was led through the damaged receiving chamber. He looked once toward the staircase where Halvern and the last professional defenders had fallen, then toward the open doors beyond which Viridian troops filled the government compound.

Eastwatch’s governor still lived, but he no longer governed anything.

General Cedric Halvern lay dead among the soldiers who had made the final stand.

Above them both, the Viridian banner moved in the wind over the government hall, marking the moment Eastwatch finally ceased to resist.

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